Merry Christmas!

I LOVE this time of year. It feels magical-I feel like I'm 5 years old again. I successfully made it through school with B's. I was 2 points away from an A in Spanish II, but I left that class more stressed out than I've been in awhile! :P I'm grateful to have gotten the grades I did and even though my perfect GPA is ruined, I'll be ok. :)

I start school again in mid-January and am tackling Spanish III, the next Math class & Philosophy. I am excited about it and longing for the day I graduate.

Winter is here, we are expected to have a white Christmas which is wonderful. I miss my family terribly but know that I will see them soon.

My wish for you this season is that you're surrounded by the ones you love, that you have your health & keep the spirit of this time of year in your heart until next year.

Merry Christmas!

Son of a Nutcracker!?!

So, in Colorado, it snows every October-usually around Halloween. This year was no different. I am amazed and shocked every time it snows this much here. The cool thing is, it melts usually within 1-2 days. It is beautiful to look at and Jason loves shoveling it (weird, right?!) Here is the front of our house on day 2 of the snowstorm.

This is a shot of our neighborhood and a bush in the front of our house that blocks our view out the front window.

This is a view outside in our back yard, poor Charlie (our black lab) had snow up to his belly. Usually he loves being outside, but he has been an inside dog these past 2 days that it snowed non-stop.

I have been feeling crafty these past few days. A couple of friends at work are having babies, I made these cards for them, the feet are made out of little strips of paper, it's called paper quilling. I really enjoy doing it!

Here's another card, but for a baby that they don't know the gender of yet.

...and here's a picture of me in this hat, I just love it. I'm in my craft room in the basement and was feeling like you should know what this hat means to me.

This cracks me up. This is Charlie's puppy fence that we keep in the basement so he stays out of the litter box. Our cat, Belle got into one of the folds of the fence & looks like she's in kitty jail. =)

Picture update

So, we thought we'd better take some pictures of our nieces & nephews out here before they were 10! This is Kaylen, age 7 months...swingin' & sippin'. Micah, age 2 1/2 is quite the hockey star!

Kaylen & Aunt Heather, she loves to laugh!

Micah being silly as usual...he cracks me up!

Charlie playing with his bone, I'm telling you if he had nothing else, life would still be good!

He's so proud with it, he prances all over the house...

There you have it! Life is good, no complaints! :)

Move over summer...

I am supposed to be doing homework, but I am having a hard time getting motivated because of the wonderfully inviting fall weather. I love this time of year, my favorite thing to do is crunch leaves as I'm walking. I am listening to music, finding it hard not to break out the Christmas tunes!

I am going to make a hot cup of tea, curl up in my snuggie & watch a little television--you know to get my motivation. ;P

Happy Fall!

Fall is here

Hello,

I haven't had anything really interesting to report, so I thought I'd check in. I am pretty sure fall is here, the leaves are falling, wind is blowing and it's already snowed in Colorado. I have already made chicken noodle soup in the crockpot and we took our annual tour to Celestial seasonings to stock up on tea.

Everything is good, Charlie is finally calming down which this is the moment Jason & I have been waiting for. ;) He's getting bigger and he's really coming into his own. Updated pictures of him to come soon.

I'm in the throws of school which is going ok--this is a tough semester! I know once I get through it, I'll look back & think of how easy it was, but not just yet!

Happy Fall everyone!

Fall is in the air

Back to school, back to early mornings & early bedtimes. This semester I am enrolled in Spanish II and Pre-Algebra. Over the summer, I took the "Fundamentals of Math" class which basically is a 5th grade introduction to Math. I am the first to admit that Math & I do not get along. I kicked and SCREAMED my way through that class & got by with a B.

I didn't even get credit for that class and am now taking Pre-Algebra which again I don't get credit for on my transcript because I need College Algebra 120 for my AA degree. It's ok though, I am at a point now where I forgot everything I've ever learned about Math and there are people worse off than I am in my class.

It's been a fun summer, we didn't have a vacation which is ok because I was in school and we have Charlie who is still a bit too wild to be left at anyone's house. :P

I long for the crisp days of fall...wearing jeans and a sweater, sipping on apple cider and most importantly-decorating the house for fall.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the day.

xo
Heather

Thinking about a lot, not much to say

Hello readers of my blog. I wish I had something exciting for you but I got nothin'. Just wanted to check in and make sure I still remember my passwords to get & update. :P

I hope everyone's summer is going well.

Summer Project

Well, here it is. Our project for the summer. We decorated and totally updated our dining room. Before this place was a drab, pale, white with random pictures everywhere. I have updated it to a warm, Mediterranean theme. The color is called cantaloupe. We love it. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Next summer: Bedroom.

I painted on the mattes of the pictures to match the photo. I didn't know I'd like them so much!

Summertime

I am so happy to be back in the blogging world. I have been so preoccupied with school this summer that I haven't made the time to post! I am proud to announce that I am an aunt again and I wanted to post the scrapbook that my sister asked me to make for her precious little boy, Wyatt. All is well this summer, it's hot but I am most grateful for the rain nearly every day!

I hope everyone is well and I will be on here more regularly!

xoxo Heather

Happenings and a bit of writer's block

Things have been happening for me, I have just been too lazy to post them. I hope you have your coffee ready-this is gonna be a long one!

As most of you know, I work part time at Target. I also have completed my first year of Spanish. At work one night, somebody asks over the walkie if anyone speaks Spanish. My ears perk up but I wait...somebody out there HAS to speak more fluently than I do.

I wait...they ask again...finally a third time comes around. I finally clear my throat and say "I speak very little and can try to be of assistance." I go meet the guest at the Service Desk. I have my phrases ready like "Mas despacio por favor" = More slowly please and "Hablo poquito espanol= I speak a little Spanish. I get up there and say hello and he asks if I speak Spanish and I say a little bit and he says "bueno" and the next thing you know...he takes off like a rocket. I am standing there in his dust.

I wish somebody could have captured my face on film because this guy handed my frijoles to me. My mouth was gaping open, my eyes wide and my face was as red as a beet. He was talking so fast I couldn't have Jesus save me at that point.

I had NO IDEA what he was saying. He must have come from the underbelly of Buenos Aires or something...all I kept thinking was "if you want to know the alphabet or talk about the weather...or conjugate some verbs or something-let's do that! I can only speak in the present tense though, OK?"

I had to say "lo siento"=I'm sorry and "no hablo", you can figure that one out. I kept thinking before this conversation that my Spanish was pretty good you know-compared to everyone in my class. I now know that my level of speaking Spanish is DORA.

**If you've made it this far, you may need a bathroom break**

I woke up this morning to my foot touching something wet in bed. This freaked me out a little bit. I thought maybe the blanket had gotten a bit cold as we sleep with the windows open at night. Jason felt the same spot and said the same thing-his foot touched something wet.

I looked down and low and behold--I find out that the Belle-the "blanket cat" you see at the top of this blog and thrown up an enormous hairball at the foot of our bed. Why- you ask? I don't know. Our animals like to torture us like that. I internally vurped and cleaned it up and then stripped the sheets.

Last thing-then I'm done. Imagine you're sleeping peacefully in your cozy bed. It's 2:30am, not a sound is bothering you. Your nose smells the foul smell of feces. I wake up thinking that my spouse is sick and has had an enormous accident in his sleep.

Thankfully-not him. WHEW! :) I then think it is the above cat...not her. I wake up Jason and we discover it may be the puppy whom we love and do not want to think of as creating this wretched smell.

Jason opens the door to his room where his crate is...I dry-heave, Jason runs out with his hands over his nose, and we conjure up a game plan. We rush Charlie outside and began to clean out the poopy-Picasso mess that has filled up the room. We hose out his crate, and give him a bath, I am bleaching out the smell in the room and we get everyone back to sleep.

THAT my fellow readers has been the last 2 weeks of my life. And, I have started my math class as of June 1st. Doing my homework has made me cry.

I'll be back to post later and I know things will be better.

Thanks for reading my rant!

xoxo
Heather

Six years already?

Today is my 6th wedding Anniversary. I am so lucky to have met the most wonderful man and am so blessed to have him in my life. Happy Anniversary honey-I love you!

I am happy to report that final grades were posted this weekend, & I got straight A's in all of my classes! I took Spanish I, Sociology, and Interpersonal Communications= 11 credits. I was really nervous going back to school full time but really excited that I did it! In highschool, I got by with average grades, not trying at all and not applying myself. Now that I have wanted to go back for a long time and pursuing a field that interests me, it's such a good feeling to get great grades!!

I have enrolled in a math class for the summer and will be volunteering to teach ESL to keep my spanish from getting rusty over the summer. I am over the moon with excitement!

It's good to not be in school for a couple of weeks!

Hellooooooooooooo everyone! I am done with school for the semester! (insert cheers here) :) I feel good about my finals and grades should be posted by Monday the 18th. I have been sleeping in, hanging out with Jason (whom I missed the very most) and taking Charlie on long walks and just enjoying everything!

I am going to immerse myself into some art projects and will take pictures once I finish them. I am really excited! Jason and I have a goal to paint our dining room this summer so I will have pictures of that posted as well.

The weather is warm, my house is clean and I think I'm going for a bike ride.

Happy Spring!!

Finals Finally

I wanted to post to let my family know I haven't fallen off of the planet. :D I am studying very hard for 3 cumulative finals in my classes which happen to be all next week. I will write more when they are over and I have my sanity back. School officially ends for me on May 14th.

I hope everyone is doing well!

xoxo
Heather

Project Angel Heart

I volunteer for a group called Project Angel Heart and I absolutely love it. I have been there since the end of February. Their website is www.projectangelheart.org and the work they do is unbelievable. They prepare amazing home cooked meals for people with cancer, AIDS, and renal failure not only for the person with the disease, but for anyone in their household.

It warms my heart to be a part of such an amazing group who does things for people in true need. I really wish I would have done this much earlier in my life. You can tell that each person in this organization truly loves what they do. A person can't have a bad day when you walk in the door once you see the faces of the people you are helping and those who have passed on.

If you live in the metro-area, and if you are able, please go out to eat on April 30th at the participating restaurants (see the website) as 25% of the proceeds earned that day will benefit Project Angel Heart.

I have never been passionate about volunteering, but I'm telling you, I get a feeling I can't describe when I walk through those doors for the 4 hours I am there. It's incredible to be able to give back to your community.

Have a blessed day.

Milestone

Charlie has successfully graduated from Puppy Kindergarden as of yesterday! Jason and I have been working with him for six weeks and he has come so far in his progress! This is a big day for Charlie and for us as he used to be the 'wild child' of the neighborhood. We are working to maintain the behaviors he has learned and focused on teaching him new tricks.

A week of bliss

I just had spring break this past week and it was glorious. I got to start it off early because school was cancelled due to snow which was marvelous! Then, I got sick because living in Colorado the weather is 70 degrees one day and snowing the next. I also think I got hit by the karma bus because I said out loud "I haven't gotten a cold yet and it's APRIL!" Well, scratch that. :D

I'm grateful that I was sick over my break because I lost my voice completely and was not a happy camper for a few days. Jason & I got to watch some movies and spend some quality couples time together. We baked, we cleaned...we were lazy!

I am going back to school today refreshed, revived and can see the end of the semester in sight!

Happy Monday everyone!

From the underbelly of the books...she emerges!

Ok so that was a little dramatic, but it's so nice to be on a break! My spring break started a couple of days early due to the two feet of snow we got and they closed our school down. It's snowing again today, we need the moisture so it's great! I am doing all sorts of fun things like cleaning and organizing my craft room, sleeping in, watching movies with Jason (if you haven't seen Bolt yet, I highly recommend it-it's so cute!) I am going to get together with friends and have lunch, probably do some more sleeping in just because it's THAT wonderful and of course do some of the crafty projects I have put off since the semester has started. I will post pictures of the bracelet I am hoping to make once it is finished.

Jason & I went to have lunch with my dad's uncle yesterday. He is 91 and lives in Denver, I haven't seen him since I was about 10 but since we live so close, it's silly to not see him. We took him out to lunch and went back to his apartment and he shared all kinds of stories about my grandparents with me. It's nice to hear memories of your grandparents from their siblings point of view, the stories made me laugh and some brought tears to my eyes. He's a very sweet man with a heart of gold.

It really makes you think about the things that are truly important in this life and what is worth fighting over.

I hope everyone has been well-happy spring!

The b word

So the day has arrived. I'm in my mid-30's. I'm OK with it. I really don't feel like I'm 34, people tell me that I look younger than I am and I own it! The woman from the optical department called me on my birthday to tell me that my bifocals were in. That stung a little, just confirming that my mid-30's were here. I am able to laugh it off poke fun at myself. I am also wearing fancier shoes(why you ask? WHY NOT?! I say!) The first day wearing them was quite a trip for me. I was very nauseous and dizzy, which I still am. I feel like I'm wearing high platform shoes walking on a tightrope. It's a really weird feeling for me. I'm told this feeling may pass in a couple of weeks (great!) I am a clumsy person by nature so I am moving at a much slower pace. I feel like I should have a sign posted on the back of my car & shirt that says "Caution new bifocal wearer, pass with care."

Volunteering-What a Great Feeling

Yesterday was my first shift volunteering. My time was from 1:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. and I was helping out as an Office Assistant. So I got there, and found out I would be answering phones and stuffing envelopes. I got right to it and it was really easy, but some of the calls were difficult as the organization is a place that brings home cooked meals to people who are terminally ill with diseases like AIDS, cancer, etc. One person called and said that she just moved to Denver and she was starving, didn't have anything in her home and needed us. I got a chill throughout my body and transferred her call to someone who could help her.

I met a lot of the staff who were so great and warm. They got some of their grant money yesterday from different counties and were dancing and elated with joy at the generosity of people from years past.

I left there after my 4 hours thinking...how can people not volunteer? I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to do it. But now that I'm in it-there's no stopping me.

I have warm fuzzies all over.

8 about me

Tagged!
Here are the rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 favorite TV shows:
1. The Office
2. 24
3. The City
4. Ellen
5. LOST
6. American Idol
7. Late night with Jimmy Fallon

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to school
2. took Charlie for a walk
3. blogged
4. got my volunteer assignment (yay!)
5. studied for yet another Spanish test
6. had dinner with great friends
7.
8.

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. spring
2. for the spring semester to be over
3. not being so pasty
4. summer
5. Charlie getting older
6. tulips
7. SUNSHINE
8. more time with Jason

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. Whole Foods
2. Johnny's Pizza
3. Noodles & Company
4. Bruegger's Bagels
5. Hacienda Colorado
6. The Melting Pot
7.
8.

8 Things on my wish list:
1. First to get my Associates Degree
2. To get my Bachelor's degree
3. To get my Master's degree!
4. To keep losing weight & feeling great!
5. To stay connected with family
6. To keep negative people & influences out of my life
7. To be a great volunteer & give back
8. To be a great friend

You can choose to do this if you'd like, if not...don't sweat it!